In her first interview as the Democratic presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris told CNN it was imperative to reach a ceasefire deal in Gaza, but made it clear that she would not alter President Joe Biden’s policy in the region.

However, when pressed on whether she would stop sending weapons to Israel she told Bash, “No, we have to get a deal done, Dana. We have to get a deal done.”

“Adopting an arms embargo against Israel’s assault on Gaza is not only a moral imperative but also a strategic move to defeat Trump and MAGA extremism. It is difficult for the Democratic candidate to champion democracy while arming Netanyahu’s authoritarian regime” reads a recent letter to Harris from the coalition Not Another Bomb.

Recent polling has repeatedly demonstrated that Democratic voters overwhelmingly support the conditioning of U.S. military aid. A Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) survey from March found that 52% of Americans want the U.S. to halt weapons shipments to Israel in order to force a ceasefire. 62% of Biden voters said “The US should stop weapons shipments to Israel until Israel discontinues its attacks on the people of Gaza,” while only 14% disagreed with the statement.

The numbers from a June CBS News poll were even higher, with more than 60% of all voters and almost 80% of Democrats saying the U.S. shouldn’t send Israel weapons.

“The real question should have been, ‘When are you going to start enforcing U.S. law as it relates to arms shipments’ because what we are doing right now, with this United States policy, is in violation of not just international law, but also of American law, “said the Arab Center’s Yousef Munayyer in an interview with Democracy Now in response to the CNN segment. “Vice-President Harris made it clear in other parts of her interview that she wants to be a prosecutor. She wants to enforce the law, but Israel is clearly getting an exception from the Harris campaign.”

  • taiyang@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    I mean, if it was any other ally surrounded by countries that hate them, I’d understand this policy. If Israel wasn’t lead by a dickhead and their regime, I’d understand this policy. They literally only exist as a country with our support.

    But as is stands now, it’s a carrot we should use to leverage peace and, in an ideal world, push for a better coexistence with people they’ve historically shit on. Giving it away for ‘free’ makes little sense aside from fear of losing their support and by extension, the election.

    If we didn’t have foreign money, or PACs in general, would this be different? I would imagine it would be, if we could just fix that shitty system.

  • beliquititious@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    4 months ago

    How hard is it to field a presidential candidate that is not a senior citizen and who doesn’t wish to remain allies with countries engaged in genocide?

    • Cowbee [he/they]@lemmy.ml
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      4 months ago

      There are several, Claudia De La Cruz and Jill Stein. The problem is that the US isn’t a democracy and never was.

    • weew@lemmy.ca
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      4 months ago

      The problem is that the countries engaged in genocide allow the US a foothold in the middle East, so they can basically get away with anything. Losing that means throwing away all the military and strategic advantage in that region.

      Tl;dr you may as well wish for a president that wants to demilitarize the US

      • beliquititious@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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        4 months ago

        Honestly, I think it might be a deal breaker for me in November. I’m willing to put up with a lot of meat-brained nonsense, but dead children so out soldiers can have an easier commute to kill more is a nonstarter.

        If I do decide not to vote in a few months, and not voting gives Trump the presidency, it’s what we deserve.

    • yeather@lemmy.ca
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      4 months ago

      My god what an apt description for American polititcs. (Illegal) Aliens vs. (Sexual) Predators.

      • Crikeste@lemm.ee
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        4 months ago

        Illegal ‘aliens’ are NOWHERE close to sexual predators by nature.

        Hell, by nature, illegal immigrants are more civil and respectable than ANY ‘natural born American’. Every metric and statistic will show you that.

  • demizerone@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    It’s not like she has a choice. The defense contractors call all the shots and they want to keep the arms flowing. We vote for the promise of maybe getting a small piece of that pie to fund healthcare for the elderly, maybe, they’ll increase military spending anyways.

  • Jamil@lemm.ee
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    4 months ago

    80% of her base wants to stop sending weapons to Israel. Where the fuck is democracy?

  • Bertuccio@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    I didn’t expect this at all and am deeply hurt.

    I really thought the handpicked second most powerful person in the country would differ significantly in policies from the people who handpicked her.

  • pocopene@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    As a European citizen: is it really a possibility for any US president not to do so? (Honest question, since from Europe US’s policy is seen as supporting Israel no matter what)

    • takeda@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      What? Trump advocates to completely glass Palestine. Biden position is to not block Israel from purchasing weapons, but also not getting dragged into a war itself and in fact getting out of Middle East. This is the real reason why West pushes so hard for EVs. US wants completely out, and if Israel wants to fight then let them use their own resources. Bibi would love if US instead of providing weapons would enter and do the job for them.

    • suction@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      Right because Trump will nuke Israel and single-handedly create a Palestinian state from the mountains to the sea. So definitely vote for him.

      • K1nsey6@lemmy.ml
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        4 months ago

        Biden/Harris Is providing enough money and weapons for Netanyahu to finish the job. While shitlibs are terrified of what Trump MIGHT do, they are distracted from whats actually happening

      • meowMix2525@lemm.ee
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        4 months ago

        I don’t know if you’ve noticed but the last 10 months have taken place under the Biden administration.

        Edit: also nobody wants that wtf are you talking about

    • VinnyDaCat@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      Yeah. I suspect many of us knew her stance on this issue before she said it but she really did not need to say it.

      I appreciate the honesty but I do wish that she would avoid this one topic in particular. This is an issue that younger voters feel very strongly about. Younger voter turnout may not be good anyways, but I would really do my best to avoid upsetting that crowd. We’re not trying to make people go back to feeling apathetic regarding the election again.

  • Kalysta@lemm.ee
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    4 months ago

    God they’re so stupid.

    Israel will not stop until we take away their ability to continue.

    When this war ends, Netanyahu will be removed from power for his prior crimes and likely jailed. He doesn’t want that and he’s murdering Palestinians to be sure he never sees the inside of a cell.

    I wish we had an actual viable option for ending this war. But my choices right now are vote for the genocide or flee the country because Trump has promised he will make my wife’s life hell day one.

    • Zaktor@sopuli.xyz
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      4 months ago

      At least during this period of anger we won’t have to also deal with the gnawing realization that they’re 100% going to lose. Harris may still lose, and this could certainly help her along the way, but it’s not a certainty, which is kind of better?

    • kent_eh@lemmy.ca
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      4 months ago

      Checkout Trump’s history of making his “close personal friend” Bibi happy if you want to be even more angry.

      • antmzo220@lemmy.ml
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        4 months ago

        Many people (like myself) are simply incapable of getting any more angry at Trump.

        They know he’s an irredeemable monster and not the standard politicians should be held to.

        It’s when other “reasonable” politicians fail to seperate themselves from him or clear that bar and normalize his ideas/policies that we continue to get upset.